AXA Protection Account
AXA’s Protection Account offers life, critical illness, mortgage income protection and business protection cover. A number of changes have recently been introduced:
• Children’s cover now includes children in full time education up to age 21 (18 still continues for those not in full time education). The maximum benefit is the lower of 50% of the sum insured or £25,000.
• The stroke definition is now ‘ABI+’. AXA has removed the exclusion for traumatic injury to brain tissue or blood vessels (and says it is the first company to do this).
• Overall the plan includes ten ABI+ definitions.
• Open heart surgery has been added as a new condition, taking total conditions covered up to 38.
• The number of countries acceptable for CI and HIV claims has been extended to 44.
• A new AXA branded Care Consultants service offers new customers access to additional practical and emotional support. It is available to policyholders, spouses and civil partner and their children up to age 21. The service claims to be the first in the UK to bring three support services into one comprehensive offering. They are:
- Second medical opinion. US based specialists give a second opinion to those with a serious medical condition.
- Claim support. A dedicated counsellor who can also assess what other services may be appropriate.
- Medical helpline. Access to nurses, counsellors, midwives and pharmacists.
The plan includes free cover on application; a choice of application routes; four additional covers that do not reduce the sum insured; advance payments for major heart surgery and terminal illness, and premium reductions where a cancer or MS exclusion has been applied.
AXA says further enhancements are planned and has already introduced a 90 day premium guarantee, which means that rates are guaranteed even if the customer passes a birthday before taking out a plan.
Plus points: AXA is one of many seemingly in the race to add new CI conditions and ABI+ (i.e. better than industry standard) definitions; Both mean more people can claim if hit by a critical illness; The concept of a single Care Consultants umbrella, with three sub-benefits, is valuable and simple, providing practical help and information at just the time it is needed; Extending child cover to 21 for students is also welcome.
Not so plus points: Why limit children’s cover to age 21 when many students now study beyond age 21?; As with all other CI plans, there is still no effective ‘catch all’ to cover all critical illnesses; Arguably, CI is also now becoming simply too complex for most customers and even IFAs to fully understand.
Website: https://advisers.axa.co.uk/pub/protection/index.html.
Rating (max 10): Innovation: 8. Overall: 8. Gold.